Crystal Gardens: A Ladies of Lantern Street Novel

Novelist and professional companion Evangeline Ames has rented a cottage in the outskirts of Little Dixby, far from the London streets where she was recently attacked. Fascinated by the paranormal energy of nearby Crystal Gardens, she finds some pleasurable diversion in sneaking past the wall to explore the grounds. And when her life is threatened again, she instinctively goes to the gardens for safety. Lucas Sebastian has never been one to ignore a lady in danger, even if she is trespassing on his property.

The River Knows

The first kiss occurred in a dimly lit hallway on the upper floor of Elwin Hastings' grand house. Louisa never saw it coming....Of course, Anthony Stalbridge couldn't possibly have had romantic intentions. The kiss was an act of desperation, meant to distract the armed guard who was about to catch the pair in a place they most definitely did not belong.

Otherwise Engaged

Miss Amity Doncaster, world traveler, is accustomed to adventure and risk. Benedict Stanbridge, a man of science and a spy for the Crown, has faced danger in the darker corners of foreign lands. But they are about to face a threat that is shockingly close to home . . . One does not expect to be kidnapped on a London street in broad daylight.

Second Sight: Arcane Society, Book 1

In financial straits and on a sure path to spinsterhood, Venetia Milton thought her stay at the remote, ramshackle Arcane House, far from society's prying eyes, would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engineer her own ravishment. She was there to photograph the relics and artifacts collected by a highly secretive organization, founded two centuries earlier by an eccentric alchemist.

Deception

Once Olympia Wingfield had been free to devote all her time to her true passion: the study of ancient legends and long-lost treasure. But now, with three hellion nephews to raise, the absentminded beauty has very little time for research. Which makes it seem all the more serendipitous when a handsome stranger strides into Olympia’s library unannounced and proceeds to set her world to rights.

Illusion Town

Hannah West and Elias Coppersmith have no regrets about their impulsive wedding since they can't remember it. All either can remember is that they were on the run. With Hannah's dubious background and shaky para-psych profile, she could have done much worse. The competent mining heir arouses her curiosity - as well as other parts of her mind and body. A honeymoon spent retracing their footsteps leads them into the twisting underground catacombs, where secrets from both their pasts will come to light.

Wicked Widow

The widow Madeline Deveridge is both admired and feared by high society. Devastatingly beautiful, she is rumored to have killed her wealthy husband. Artemis Hunt is a handsome gentleman who is also a master of secret arts. His concentration on his own affairs is shattered, however, when Madeline demands his help one fog-shrouded night. Brought together by a mutual bargain - and a ghost - their bond sparks an attraction that will be far more dangerous than either suspects.

Wait Until Midnight

The sins of Adam Hardesty's past have been discovered. And if he does not hunt down his blackmailer quickly, his secrets will be revealed to all.... But there is an obstacle in his way: sensation novelist Caroline Fordyce. She knows that Adam's quest for justice could shatter her own reputation - and mire her family in lethal scandal. And she fears what he may find. Together they will navigate the shadow side of London, venturing into an underworld of cutthroats, connivers, and illusionists.

With This Ring

With 22 million of her books in print, and 12 consecutive New York Times best-sellers to her credit, Amanda Quick is a phenomenally popular author of historical romances. With This Ring, set in Regency England, sends a beautiful, headstrong woman on a perilous quest for the Forbidden Rings of Aphrodite. To recover her family’s meager fortunes, Beatrice Poole must locate the antiquities stolen from her favorite uncle shortly before his highly suspicious death.

I Thee Wed

With more than 25 million copies of her books in print, Amanda Quick is one of today’s most popular authors of Regency-era romances. Her 23 New York Times best-selling novels are delightful combinations of fascinating characters, clever conversations, and fleet-footed suspense. Emma Greyson is grateful for her position as lady’s companion.

Mystique

This spectacular romantic novel unveils a tantalizing tale of a legendary knight, a headstrong lady, and a quest for an ancient crystal. To find the mystical Stone of Scarcliffe, Sir Hugh needs the assistance of Lady Alice of Lingwood, a flame-haired beauty with a dazzling intellect. Together, Hugh and Alice begin a dangerous adventure that brings them more than they expect: murder, deception, and the possibility of lasting love.

Affair

Affair introduces Charlotte Arkendale, an industrious young woman who provides a very special service. Wealthy women hire her to check the qualifications of their suitors. When one of Charlotte’s loveliest clients is murdered, she hires the darkly handsome Baxter St. Ives to be her assistant and bodyguard. But as they pool their powers of deduction and begin to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murder, they also uncover the force of a powerful, and mutual, chemistry.

Copper Beach: A Dark Legacy Novel

Within the pages of very rare books, some centuries old, lie the secrets of the paranormal. Abby Radwell’s unusual psychic talent has made her an expert in such volumes - and sometimes taken her into dangerous territory. After a deadly incident in the private library of an obsessive collector, Abby receives a blackmail threat, and rumors swirl that an old alchemical text known as The Key has reappeared on the black market.

Scandal

With her reputation forever tarnished by a youthful indiscretion, lovely Emily Faringdon is resigned to a life of spinsterhood, until she embarks on an unusual correspondence and finds herself falling head over heels in love. Sensitive, intelligent, and high-minded, her noble pen pal seems to embody everything Emily has ever dreamed of in a man. But Simon Augustus Traherne, the mysterious Earl of Blade, is not at all what he seems.

Lie by Moonlight

While investigating a suspicious death, private inquiry agent Ambrose Wells finds himself on the grounds of Aldwick Castle - and in the midst of utter chaos. The ramshackle castle is in flames - and a beautiful woman and four young girls are taking flight on horseback. It turns out that the strong-minded Miss Concordia Glade and her four bright students are on the run from a notorious London crime lord who'll stop at nothing to destroy them.

The Paid Companion

The Earl of St. Merryn needs a woman. His intentions are purely practical - he simply wants someone sensible and suitably lovely to pose as his betrothed for a few weeks among polite society. He has his own agenda to pursue, and a false fiancée will keep the husband-hunters at bay while he goes about his business. The simplest solution is to hire a paid companion. Finding the right candidate proves more of a challenge than he expected.

Slightly Shady: Lake & March, Book 1

Besieged by gambling debts, a desperate gentleman purchases a diary as a tool for blackmail. But he does not live to carry out his plans. He is murdered, and the diary is stolen. Now Tobias March, discrete private investigator, has been hired to find the incriminating diary. Tobias is familiar with danger, but when his inquiries lead him to the beautiful entrepreneur Lavinia Lake, his emotions are sidetracked.

The Lost Night

With the ability to detect the auras of dangerous psychic criminals, Rachel Bonner has found peace and quiet on Rainshadow Island with her dust bunny companion. Then Harry Sebastian, the descendant of a notorious pirate, arrives to investigate strange developments in the privately owned woods known as the Preserve. Rachel can sense the heart of darkness within him – and the stirrings of desire within her own soul....

Dangerous: A Novel

At five and 20, Prudence Merryweather knew very well the risks a woman took by visiting a gentleman in the dead of night. But bearding the notorious Earl of Angelstone in his den was the only way to stop him from engaging her hot-headed brother in a duel. And that was why she found herself ushered into Sebastian's forbidding presence at three in the morning - and thoroughly kissed before dawn.

Someone to Love: A Westcott Novel, Book 1

Anna Snow grew up in an orphanage in Bath knowing nothing of the family she came from. Now she discovers that the late Earl of Riverdale was her father and that she has inherited his fortune. She is also overjoyed to learn she has siblings. However, they want nothing to do with her or her attempts to share her new wealth. But the new earl's guardian is interested in Anna.

Mistress

When a blackmailer threatens her Aunt Zoe, Iphiginia knows she can ferret out the villain. A 26-year-old vixen with the intellect to match her beauty, Iphiginia descends on London society as the dazzling mistress of the missing Earl of Masters—another supposed victim of the blackmailer. But when the missing earl suddenly reappears at a ball, Iphiginia is caught in her own clever lie.

Mischief

As soon they are released, Amanda Quick’s romances shoot to the top of best seller lists. With over 22 million copies of her books in print, she is one of today’s hottest authors. Set in Regency-era England, Mischief offers a sparkling mixture of wit and intrigue that has become Quick’s trademark. Beautiful, headstrong Imogen Waterstone has recruited the darkly infamous Earl of Colchester to help her seek revenge for the murder of her best friend. As they set a trap for the villain, Imogen and Colchester fearlessly encounter the threats and dangers that come their way.

Don't Look Back

Bringing back the lovers from Slightly Shady, Amanda Quick plunges us into a whirlwind intrigue involving an ancient cameo bracelet, known as the Blue Medusa, said to possess terrifying powers. Lavinia Lake and Tobias March join forces again, romantically and intellectually, to solve the murder of the beautiful wife of an old family friend.

Rendezvous

Augusta Ballinger was quite sure that it was all a dreadful mistake. The chillingly pompous and dangerously disturbing Earl of Graystone could not possibly wish to marry her. Why, it was rumored that his chosen bride must be a veritable model of virtue. And everyone knew that Augusta, as the last of the wild, reckless Northumberland Ballingers, was a woman who could not be bothered by society's rules.

Publisher's Summary

The new Ladies of Lantern Street novel from Amanda Quick explores the crimes, passions, and paranormal secrets of Victorian London.

Under the plain gray skirts of Miss Beatrice Lockwood’s gown, a pistol waits at the ready. For Beatrice is a paid companion on a secret mission - and with a secret past - and she must be prepared to fight for her life at any moment.

Yet she is thrown oddly off guard by the fierce-looking man who joins her in foiling a crime outside a fancy ball - and then disappears into the shadows, leaving only his card. His name is Joshua Gage, and he claims to know Beatrice’s employers. Beyond that, he is an enigma with a hypnotically calm voice and an ebony-and-steel cane....

Joshua, who carries out clandestine investigations for the Crown, is equally intrigued. He has a personal interest in Miss Lockwood, a suspected thief and murderer, not to mention a fraudster who claims to have psychical powers. The quest to discover her whereabouts has pulled him away from his mournful impulses to hurl himself into the sea - and engaged his curiosity about the real Beatrice Lockwood, whose spirit, he suspects, is not as delicate as her face and figure.

He does know one thing, though: This flame-haired beauty was present the night Roland Fleming died at the Academy of the Occult. Guilty or not, she is his guide to a trail of blood and blackmail, mesmerism and madness - a path that will lead both of them into the clutches of a killer who calls himself the Bone Man....

I came across Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz) Arcane series years ago as well as her Harmony series (Jayne Castle) and she became one of my must have authors under her various pseudonyms.

This is an Historical, Mystery, Paranormal, Fantasy romance

The Ladies of Lantern Street are private investigators, with the Flint & Marsh agency, who accomplish their tasks discretely for their clients by posing as Paid Companions, Governess's or in other guises. Each has a paranormal talent.

Beatrice Lockwood in her new profession with Flint & Marsh is hiding from her past after her previous employer was murdered.

Joshua North doesn't believe in the paranormal but has the reputation of being able to find things, is after Beatrice believing she is blackmailing his sister.

Unfortunately if you have read/listened to Amanda Quick's previous books you will feel this book contains reflections/echos of earlier stories, both from the Arcane Arc and various stand alone novels. Nightmare gas anyone, I could list many more such instances but it would spoil an enjoyable listen and reveal too much of the plot.

This is still well worth the listen and well worth the price (Audible version)

The narration by Justine Eyre, whilst not on a par with Anne Flosnik, Joyce Bean or Josephine Bailey does not totally ruin the listen

I would recommend this this book to all that like Historical paranormal fantasy and even those who, like male lead in the book, do not.

Well I really love Amanda Quick aka Jane Ann Krentz, and have just about everything that has been/is being released by her ...... so you can imagine how it grieves me to say that this story was sadly lacking the usual intensity. It was like eating chilli without much spice - edible? yes, nourishing? maybe, enjoyable? perhaps - but it just had no real kick to it that makes you lick your lips and go Mmmmmm.

Everything was just NICE - the characters were nice, the story was a well written nice historical PNR, the romance had a nice slow build-up and was nice - well you get the picture and it smacked of events that happened from her past books. There were a few sexual encounters but these weren't explicit.

Worth a credit? I find her books irresistible and I can't help myself from downloading them so I guess that's a YES - but I wanted, and was expecting, more than 'nice' from a paranormal book, by a great author that has murder, mysteries and secrets.

the Mystery Woman is a story in typical JAK/Amanda Quick style. (not super original, but still in a style I do so enjoy)... a feisty heroine, a misunderstood hero, a pocket pistil and a murderer to catch.

this is book 2 in the ladies of lantern street series. it has a para normal flavor, and the narration was great. (Justine eyre narrated this and the previous AQ book...her accent is definitely different however she might be a good change of pace from Anne Flossnick... give her a shot and you'll like her)

Yes. I would definitely recommend this to a friend. It was an enjoyable book. I enjoyed the first book of this series and I am looking forward to the next one.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Joshua was my favorite character. I loved his sayings and how he interacted with Bea.

Which character – as performed by Justine Eyre – was your favorite?

That is hard to say I guess I would say Bea.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Bea realized she would never be alone again.

Any additional comments?

Jayne Anne Krentz writes under several different names, several different genres and it is amazing how good she is in all of them. I am always looking for her out of print books and I am glad that she is reissuing some of them.

As usual, The Ladies of Lantern Street Series is excellent. The Mystery Woman story is well constructed and follows the standard Jayne Ann Krentz formula. The only problems I ever have with her books is her need to explain every mystery down to the last detail by having her villains confess to each criminal action or her by having her leading characters lay down every single fact. It gets very, very annoying. The other flaw in her otherwise great stories is her aversion to firearms of any kind. You will not find a single story by the author where guns are used to an advantage by any of her leading ladies or gentleman. She just flat won't allow it. Of course, in real life guns are used daily to both save lives and take them. It's an aspect of life that will never go away; except in Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Quick, or Jayne Castle stories. If you didn't already know, they are all the same person.

With these exceptions in mind, I highly recommend this paranormal series. They are outstanding stories!

Justine Eyre performed the narration. Nice job. I particularly liked the scenes with the coffin, the dead-but-pristine body, and the eyes of Anubis. Halloween, anyone?

For historical romantic-suspense, Amanda Quick is gold standard. Her formula may not be every readers' cuppa, but it has stood the test of time — and I'm talking decades. She likes her heroines intelligent, kind-hearted, and spirited (but not annoyingly "fiesty"). Her heroes are unexceptional: smart, tough, rich, fairly cynical but noble — what's not to love?

This book follows some of the same tropes as her earlier publications, including 'Til Death Do Us Part. We have a virginal heroine living on the fringes of society and a soul-sick hero with a scarred face and tormented past. True love does the trick for these two!

The murder mystery twists along until the hero realizes something at the 11th hour. Then it's all hands on deck, fast! (A sad conclusion really, but I saw it coming.)

It's good but not great or memorable. No complaints from me. I still pick up a novel by Quick / Krentz / Castle when I want something fairly formulaic and reliable. I know the plot will hold together, the characters will be likable, the language won't be offensive or vulgar, the sex won't be grossly graphic, and the proofreading will be thorough.

Good hero. Good storyline. Not near enough romance. I felt like the author was in a hurry to finish writing it so she could get to the next one. I adore Amanda Quick novels. There just wasn't the emotion in this one I have come to expect.